John Curtis: Packers should give Favre concrete cleats

Now the fireworks can begin for NFL fans. Brett Favre has signed and faxed to the NFL his intent to return to play football for the upcoming season.

John Curtis

Now the fireworks can begin for NFL fans. Brett Favre has signed and faxed to the NFL his intent to return to play football for the upcoming season.

The former, and he hopes current, No. 1 quarterback for the Green Bay Packers returns a few months after an "emotional" press conference saying he was through keeping his team in a state of "siege" for the past two seasons.

Now one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game again takes the team that has backed him up as hostage.

It's a saga almost like "The Godfather" where Favre plays Vito Corleone as he got shot on the street and the Packers playing the part of Freido — knowing they have to do something, but too afraid to pull the trigger.

Then Vito comes back to a meeting of the five families and, eventually, kills the other mob bosses. Favre hasn’t done that, yet, but in Packer Land, that would be Green Bay’s general manager (Ted Thompson), head coach (Mike McCarthy), offensive coordinator (Joe Philbin) and the chief executive officer (Mike Murphy).

I am a big Favre fan even though I didn't think much of him when I saw him play college ball at Southern Mississippi. He proved many people wrong with the way he was able to turn the Packers into a contender, even last year when most people said then he should hang up his cleats.

I also think he can still be considered one of the top five quarterbacks currently in the NFL. Not along the lines of Peyton Manning (Eli still has work to do) and Tom Brady. I would still put him in front of Eli Manning and Tony Romo.

But he again puts the Packers in a very uncomfortable spot. Green Bay has been grooming heir-apparent Aaron Rodgers to be the new leader of the Packers' offense, and it drafted two quarterbacks to be his backup. Now Favre has been allowed to come back to training camp, and things in Wisconsin will be like a three-ring circus.

Favre could get an offer from the Packers he can’t refuse. Green Bay could trade Favre — there were rumors that Minnesota and Tampa Bay are or were interested in him — and get a player back that would help the team like a running back.

And if they can’t trade Favre, the Packers should just plant him and his cleats in cement and throw him out into Lake Michigan.

After all, it wouldn’t be anything personal; just business.

John Curtis is sports editor at the Augusta Daily Gazette in Augusta, Kan.